A petition against moves to stop displaying art at the Usher Gallery in Lincoln has been signed by more than 2,500 people.

Lincolnshire County Council is consulting the public on cuts to its heritage budget of £750,000 a year - which includes the possibility of using parts of the Usher Gallery for weddings and for coroners' services.

It is exploring alternative uses with the building's owner, the city council, and some art could be moved to The Collection next door.

One proposal is for the venue to be used for weddings (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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However, campaigners fear that people could be deprived of seeing works of art in the public gallery specifically created in 1927 to display them.

The building is owned by the City of Lincoln Council but operated by the county council.

Jane Riley has launched a change.org petition to city council leader Ric Metcalfe and county council leader Martin Hill. The aim is to get 5,000 signatures.

She writes: "There are plans afoot to lease out the Usher Gallery in Lincoln as a wedding venue.

"While reassuring noises have been made, I have reason to believe (based on a county council report) that the ultimate aim is to cease using the Usher Gallery to display art.

"The building itself is a work of art, and was bequeathed to the people of Lincoln by James Ward Usher, so this is about retaining regular public access to the building as well as to the art collections."

This video includes a snapshot of some of the works of art on display at the Usher.

The Save Lincolnshire's Usher Gallery Facebook page urges people to sign the petition and have their say in the consultation.

The page states: "There are plans afoot to close Lincoln's Usher Gallery.

"It is unbelievable that a city such as Lincoln would not have a dedicated art gallery.

"The Usher Gallery was bequeathed to the people of Lincoln by James Usher to house his fine and applied art collection.

"It was opened in 1927. It is run by Lincolnshire County Council, but the building and collection are owned by the City of Lincoln Council.

"Lincolnshire County Council are now proposing to close the Usher building as an art gallery and to merge the collections held there with the archaeology collections in The Collection Museum.

"The county council's proposal is to use the Usher building as a wedding venue.

"This will deprive the people and visitors to Lincoln of seeing the art collection in the beautiful building that was purpose built to house it. We have set up this campaign to oppose these plans."

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Fiona Hodges, who launched the SLUG campaign, told Lincolnshire: "Our aim is to publicise the proposal and encourage people to take part in the consultation and also write to their MPs and local councillors.

"One of the reasons for the review is financial. We want to put forward proposals and encourage the county and city councils and other partners and the arts community to look at rejuvenating the Usher and get it to engage more with the community as a whole.

"It's not just about saving the Usher in its current state, it's about developing it as a fully functional gallery for the future.

"It needs to be considered as much more of an asset, rather than a financial burden."

People have left comments on the SLUG's Facebook page about how the gallery has inspired them as well as sharing images as to why it means so much to them.

Marguerite Horner, who is exhibiting her work along that of David Hockney and Tracy Emin at the Made in Britain show in Poland, wrote: "This gallery inspired me so much as I grew up and I would pour over the watercolours and paintings to learn how to paint."

There is also this post, based on The Scream by Edvard Munch:

Writing in the Lincolnshire Echo, Councillor Nick Worth, who is responsible for cultural services at the county council, commented that the proposals were "very much in the spirit of Usher's legacy".

He wrote: "We still want art to remain within the Usher building, including a dedicated exhibition space on the ground floor, open to the public six days a week.

"Paintings and sculpture will also be on display in many of the other rooms, although, in future, many of these areas will be used for our registration, celebration and coroners' services.

"However, much of the time, the public will still be able to visit and enjoy these works as they do now."

He adds that a new exhibition space, costing up to £4m, would be created at The Collection.

Nick Worth

Cllr Worth continued: "The Collection would then become home to some of the art currently in the Usher.

"In addition, as the security and environmental conditions in the museum are significantly better than those across the road, it would allow us to display some of the art we can no longer display at the Usher."

He adds that The Collection attracts five times as many visitors as the Usher, and the move would mean more people having the chance to enjoy the art.

And a modern art space would have a better chance of attracting touring exhibitions, Cllr Worth added.

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